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Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Justin Sun
孙宇晨
Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization
In office
2021–2023
Personal details
BornJuly 30, 1990 (1990-07-30) (age 34)
Xining, Qinghai, China
Alma materPeking University
University of Pennsylvania
Occupation
  • Diplomat
  • Entrepreneur
  • Businessman
Known forFounder of TRON
Websitewww.hejustinsun.com

Justin Sun (Chinese: 孙宇晨; pinyin: Sūn Yǔchén; born July 30, 1990) is a Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur and business executive. He is the founder of TRON, a cryptocurrency with an associated blockchain DAO ecosystem and USDD, a stablecoin issued by TRON DAO Reserve. Sun is also the owner of Rainberry (formerly Bitorrent Inc.), which developed the BitTorrent protocol and under Sun's leadership developed the BTT cryptocurrency token. Sun also owns the crypto exchange Poloniex, and is affiliated with the crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi). Sun served as Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva from 2021 to 2023.

In 2023, Sun was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who alleged that Sun and his companies have engaged in fraudulent activity to inflate the price of the TRON (TRX) and BTT tokens, as well as selling unregistered securities.

Early life and education

Sun was born in 1990. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in history from Peking University and a Master of Arts degree in East Asian studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Sun became interested in cryptocurrency and invested early in bitcoin. He studied at Jack Ma's Zhejiang Hupan Entrepreneurship Research Center. He became the cover figure of Yazhou Zhoukan in 2011 and a Davos Global Shaper in 2014.

Career

Cryptocurrency and other crypto-related projects

In late 2013, Sun joined Ripple Labs as chief representative and adviser.

Sun founded the blockchain-based operating platform TRON and launched the TRX token in 2017. In September 2017 his company Tron held an initial coin offering (ICO) for the TRX token, a few days before the Chinese government banned ICOs. According to The Verge, Sun was aware of the impending ban, and pushed for the sale to occur before the ban could be announced. Shortly afterwards, Sun left China for the United States. TRON raised about $70 million at its ICO. A cryptocurrency whitepaper Sun published attracted controversy following allegations that it was heavily derivative of earlier cryptocurrency whitepapers without any attribution.

In June 2018, Sun acquired the company BitTorrent, Inc (later renamed Rainberry Inc.) for $140 million. The company is best known for developing the BitTorrent protocol. During his tenure leading BitTorrent as CEO, the BitTorrent network launched its own utility token, BTT.

Sun later acquired the crypto exchange Poloniex. The Verge alleged in 2021 that Sun demanded that he should be given personal ownership of misplaced Poloniex customer funds that users accidentally sent to wrong wallet addresses, totaling about 300 bitcoin, despite the objections of Poloniex employees. In November 2023 Poloniex had $120 million stolen by hackers. Sun offered to let the hackers keep $6.5 million if they returned the rest of the money within 7 days.

Sometime between 2018 and 2020, Sun acquired a Maltese residency card as a result of investing in the country.

In October 2021, Sun participated in a $65 million funding round in Hong Kong-based Animoca, a maker of crypto and blockchain video games such as The Sandbox.

In February 2023, he was the largest individual staked ether holder, with a balance of $500 million.

In August 2024, Sun launched the platform SunPump, a platform which allows users to create their own cryptocurrency tokens.

Sun is associated with crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi).

In 2024, Sun invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company associated with Donald Trump.

Diplomacy

Sun was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2021. As a result, Sun phased out of his daily roles at his crypto-related projects such as TRON in order to focus on his diplomatic role at the WTO in Geneva. Sun told Bloomberg he would use his role to advocate cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to countries and promote technology development in Grenada. Sun said the Caribbean has "become a very good place for entrepreneurship" because of its close proximity to the U.S., with less strict regulations regarding cryptocurrency.

In December 2021, Justin Sun retired as a CEO of TRON to become a diplomat for Grenada.

In March 2023, Sun stepped down from his position as Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization, which followed the previous governing party of Grenada which had appointed him losing power following the general election the previous year.

In October 2024, Sun was elected as a "Speaker of Congress" and appointed as "Prime Minister" of Liberland, a micronation (self-proclaimed country) that claims to own (but does not control) a small region on the Danube river floodplain border between Serbia and Croatia.

Internet

Sun founded Peiwo, an app aspiring to become China's Snapchat that matches and connects users by analyzing 10-second voice samples as well interests. Peiwo has introduced a host of channels for users to make like-minded friends, with online games, talent shows and live streaming. According to Sun it has matched more than 4 billion chats to date. The Verge described the app as an "audio-based mashup of Tinder and a live-stream chat room".

Legal issues

In 2020, a civil lawsuit was filed against Sun by former TRON employees Lucasz Juraszek and Richard Hall, with allegations "ranging from fraud to harassment to whistleblower retaliation". While the filers sought a public trial, the judge sided with Sun's request for private arbitration. In March 2023, Sun was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered securities related to the sale and promotion of Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens, alleging that Sun and his companies had engaged in fraudulent activities such as wash trading in the secondary market for TRX in order to raise its price. Eight celebrities, including Akon, Ne-Yo, Austin Mahone, Soulja Boy, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and Lil Yachty were charged with promoting these cryptocurrencies without disclosing that they were sponsored. All defendants excluding Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone settled with payments in excess of $400,000 without admitting liability. Prior reporting by The Verge also alleged that TRON, at the direction of Sun, had engaged in market manipulation by buying/selling TRX tokens based on non-public internal information. The Verge also alleged that as of 2022, Sun was under the investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the prosecutor's office for the Southern District of New York for potential criminal charges.

Personal life

Sun placed the winning $4.6 million bid to have a private meal with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett in June 2019, before canceling it to widespread surprise. The dinner with Buffett eventually occurred in early 2020. Sun met with Buffett, a critic of cryptocurrency, at the Happy Hollow Club in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 23, 2020. Sun was joined by other cryptocurrency executives, including leaders of Litecoin, eToro, Huobi, and Binance Charity Foundation. At the dinner, Sun gifted Buffett a phone with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The money from the charity auction benefited the Glide Foundation, which Buffett's late wife Susan introduced to Buffett after volunteering there.

In December 2021, Sun announced that he had previously bid $28 million to be the first paying passenger on Blue Origin's first crewed mission into space on the New Shepard. Although he had won the auction, he was unable to attend the July 2021 flight due to a scheduling conflict.

In November 2024, Sun purchased one of the three limited edition rights to Comedian, a 2019 conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall, for $5.2 million ($6.2 million including fees) at an auction in New York. Shortly after the purchase he ate the banana onstage. Sun later pledged to buy 100,000 bananas from the New York street vendor who the banana was originally purchased from (reportedly for 25 cents).

Bibliography

  • Brave New World (2017)

References

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  43. Nelson, George (November 29, 2024). "Justin Sun Vows to Buy 100,000 Bananas From Vendor Who Sold 25-Cent Banana Used for $6.2 M. 'Comedian'". ARTnews.com. Retrieved November 30, 2024.

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